Recent Faculty Accomplishments

Publications:

Dr. Susie Hennessy contributed a chapter to Aimer et Mourir: Love, Death, and Women's Lives in Texts of French Expression, which has been published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Appointments:

Dr. Ann Thorne was elected Vice-Head & Research Chair of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication History Division at the national convention held August 8- 11 in Boston, MA.

Dr. Jane Frick has been appointed to the national Affiliate Advisory Council for the Alliance for Young Arts & Writers, Inc., sponsors of the annual Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards contests for youth, grades 7-12.

Dr. Frick also coordinates the Missouri Writing Regional Affiliate, which is sponsored by Prairie Lands Writing Project at Missouri Western. Nearly 20,000 students nationwide submitted art and writing entries in the 2009 contest, including students from over 100 schools in Missouri and the greater Kansas City area.

Grants Awarded:

Prairie Lands Writing Project has received a $5000 grant, "Through the Looking Glass: Looking at Literacy Through Content area Lenses," from the Carnegie Corporation and the National Writing Project to support in-service programs related to reading and writing across the curriculum. The grant will support teams of content area teachers from St. Joseph Central, Lathrop, and Platte County high schools who will participate in a professional learning community/classroom research cohort related to improving reading and writing instruction in the content areas. PLWP Teacher Consultants directing the project are Valorie Stokes, Platte County high school media coordinator, team leader; Amy Fowler, St. Joseph Central high school math teacher; Jen Vermillion, Lathrop high school Spanish/French teacher; and Michelle Thomas, Platte County high school assistant principal.

Prairie Lands Writing Project has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the National Writing Project (NWP) to provide year two literacy-based in-services for the instructional staff at Excelsior Springs Middle School, as a part of the NWP's multi-year National Evaluation Study. To launch the second year of the project, Prairie Lands' Teacher Consultants Heidi Mick and Kathy Miller, facilitated a week-long Writing Academy in early August for Excelsior's communication arts staff.

Good News from Sue Ferguson

Sue writes to inform us that she has completed treatment for breast cancer and is officially in remission. She sends thanks to everyone who sent prayers and good thoughts her way. She writes, "you have made it possible for me to seal that chapter of my life and move ahead to more enjoyable and exciting activities."

Good luck, Sue!

You can contact Sue at sue.ferguson@gmail.com

Karina Vazquez Publishes Book

Dr. Karina Vazquez, Assistant Professor of Spanish, has had her book, Fogwill: realismo y mala conciencia, published this August by Ediciones Circeto.

The book is a study of the return of the realist aesthetic to the Argentine narrative in Rodolfo Fogwill's novels Vivir afuera (1998), La experiencia sensible (2001), and En otro orden de cosas (2001). The main purpose of this work is to explore and explain a key transformation that ocurred at the end of the nineties: the move from an aesthetic of allusion, inaugurated by Ricardo Piglia's novel Respiracion artificial (translated as "Artificial Respiration" - 1980), to a "realist" aesthetic proposal. The book presents a reflection on literary autonomy and the complex relationship between fiction and reality.

Jeff McMillian Promoted

Jeff McMillian, an EFLJ alumnus, has been promoted at Northwest Pipe Company from HR Manager to HR Director, Tubular Products Division. His work is now focused on strategic leadership development and building high-performance teams in the organization. Northwest Pipe Company is the leading supplier of Water Transmission pipeline in the U.S. Jeff also holds an MFA from Bowling Green University.

Congratulations, Jeff!

Sue Ferguson Has New Teaching Job

Susan Ferguson (B.A. English-Writing, 1985, MWSC; M.A. English-Creative Writing, 2008, Northern Arizona University) has been hired as a member of the English faculty at South Texas College in McAllen, Texas. She will be teaching English composition and literature this fall at STC's Starr County Campus in Rio Grande City.

Good luck, Susan!

Jeanie Crain Returns to EFLJ

One day in the fall of 2000, President Jim Scanlon called Dr. Jeanie Crain in her office. "Come on over. I want to talk to you about something." Nine years later, she's back, like the character in many fairy stories who is lured into the fairy mound only to emerge years later, disoriented but not aged more than a few days. So it is with Jeanie. So if she asks for people long retired or asks you "who the heck are you?" please understand.

So, after nine years working as the Special Assistant to the President doing important work on our gaining university status, AQIP accreditation, and other, covert operations, she's again Professor of English and eager to work again in composition, literature, and technical communication.

Welcome back, Jeanie! The coffee is still lousy.

Prairie Lands Writing Project Holds Graduation

Western hosted the Prairie Lands Writing Project (PLWP) camp graduation for 117 campers from 26 area elementary and middle schools in ceremonies on June 25.

The “Writers Under Construction” elementary school campers and the “Cyberwriters: Publishing Our Generation” middle school campers conducted readings for parents and friends and held closing celebrations in Kemper Recital Hall and Eder Hall, room 210, respectively.

Beginning June 2, the campers met at Western as a part of PLWP’s ongoing partnership with the St. Joseph School District. The students were nominated by their teachers for their outstanding writing and reading skills and had to submit a letter of application describing their literacy practices before being accepted for the camps. During the four-week camp, the students participated in literature circles, completed daily journal writings and workshopped several longer pieces that were published in camp anthologies, along with other student writings. This year the elementary campers participated in a writing marathon at the Mt. Mora cemetery in St. Joseph, and the middle school campers completed a number of digital projects, merging images and sound with their creative writings.

The 2009 camp directors and teachers include Jerri Fischer of Lindberg Elementary; Ann Dotson, Shannon Harris, Betty Stacey and Christie Hofmeister of Skaith Elementary; Jill Steinmetz of Maryville High; Tyler Carlson of Savannah High: Tia Frahm of Neeley Elementary; and Stacia Studer of Bode Middle.

(This text and these photos are from the June 29 edition of Tower Topics: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/TowerTopics/)